Late Monday afternoon, Dobelle and his attorneys filed an 84-page response explaining to state education officials his reasons and justification for doing so much traveling and entertaining with taxpayer and foundation money.

The response to the state Board of Higher Education Commissioner Richard Freeland had been due on Oct. 3.

Dobelle posted part of his defense on YouTube.com, in a video distributed by his newly hired public relations firm, Regan Communications. Team 5 Investigates has learned the firm is not being paid with taxpayer money.

In the video, Dobelle points to the fact that he was recently praised by the university's board of trustees in his 2012 evaluation and was given a 3 percent raise months after his expenditures were first called into question.

"All of my evaluations, within the past years have been so, with humility, extraordinary," said Dobelle. "They talk about my leadership, my fiscal management, they talked about my vision, they talked about our success," he added.

Dobelle admits violating policy by using the university's credit card for personal use, but claims it was standard practice and all charges were later reimbursed.

He also called the recent financial review by outside auditors O'Connor & Drew a flawed report and he is claiming school by-laws and state open meeting laws were broken by several board members along the way.

When it comes to travel, Dobelle said he spent $182,073 in four years, which was $50,000 less than the $234,015 travel budget.

In the last four years Westfield State University Foundation events for donors were held with tickets to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood concerts, including James Taylor and Garrison Keillor, with dinner at nearby restaurants. Dobelle claims it cost the university $18,504 but the donations to date since these events total $237,721.

He continues to stand by his spending and he says he will not step down. "I have every interest in remaining and every interest in doing a good job every day," said Dobelle.

Dobelle and his attorneys are calling for the removal of the executive committee of the board of trustees as well as the lawyers and accounting firm involved in the financial review from any continued involvement with reviewing expenditures and any evaluation of any corrective actions taken in response to that review.

The board of trustees has scheduled an emergency meeting for Oct. 16 to vote on whether they will take action against Dobelle.

A spokesperson for the state Board of Higher Education said Commissioner Freeland is disappointed that it took so long to receive Dobelle's response, but will give it a full and fair review.

TSARNAEV WOULD BE TRIED ON THOSE CHARGES AFTER HIS FEDERAL TERROR TRIAL. NEW DEVELOPMENTS TONIGHT FOLLOWING A TEAM 5 INVESTIGATION. WESTFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY'S PRESIDENTS ON THE DEFENSIVE AS HE FINALLY RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS OF LAVISH SPENDING. AS KATHY CURRAN REPORTS, HE IS CLAIMING HIS RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED. ALL MY EVALUATIONS FOR THE PAST YEARS HAVE BEEN SO, YOU KNOW, WITH HUMILITY, EXTRAORDINARY. EVAN ZOBEL POSTS PART OF HIS DEFENSE ON YOUTUBE AND HITS THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION WITH AN 84 PAGE RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS THAT HE MISUSED UNIVERSITY AND DONOR MONEY AS PRESIDENT OF WESTFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY. DOBELL POINTS TO THE FACT THAT HE WAS PRAISED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES IN HIS 2012 EVALUATION. AND WAS GIVEN A RAISE MONTHS AFTER HIS EXPENDITURES WERE FIRST CALLED INTO QUESTION. THEY TALKED ABOUT MY LEADERSHIP AND FISCAL MANAGEMENT AND MY VISION. HE ADMITS VIOLATING POLICY BY USING THE UNIVERSITY CREDIT CARD FOR PERSONAL USE. BUT SAYS IT WAS STANDARD PRACTICE AND ALL CHARGES WERE REIMBURSED. HE CALLS THE RECENT FINANCIAL REVIEW A FLAWED REPORT AND CLAIMS SCHOOL BYLAWS AND STATE OPEN MEETING LAWS WERE BROKEN PEP SEVERAL BOARD MEMBERS ALONG THE WAY. WHEN IT COMES TO HIS TRAVEL, THE W.S.U. PRESIDENT SAYS HE SPENT $182,000 IN FOUR YEARS WHICH WAS $50,000 UNDER BUDGET AND REAPED A LARGE RETURN ON INVESTMENT. HE STANDS BY HIS SPENDING AND WON'T STEP DOWN. I HAVE EVERY INTEREST IN REMAINING AND EVERY INTEREST IN DOING A GOOD JOB EVERY DAY. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES WILL VOTE NEXT WEEK WHETHER OR NOT TO TEAK ACTION AGAINST DOBELL. THE COMMISSIONER OF HIGHER EDUCATION TELLS US HE IS DISAPPOINTED DOBELL'S IS RESPONSE TOOK SO LONG BUT SAYS